Enchantment of the sea
by FlyingWorldOtter
Summary: Hermione Granger is looking to get away, she goes on a cuise ship that sails across the ocean. Draco Malfoy is already aboard, on his honeymoon...alone. Force of attraction. Has anyone heard of sea magic? EWE. Dramione
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to my first fic! I'm excited to see where this story is going to lead me. I've written a small draft to keep my ideas in order, let's see where it takes me!**

 **I'm ratting this story a M as there will probably be some cursing, sexual content, and probably some smut in the later chapters.**

 **Also, my first language is French, I now speak English everyday at home and work, but it's still not perfect and I'm working very hard to improve it everyday. If you see any mistakes please let me know and I promise I will be researching the correct spelling/grammar and make the correction.**

 **Any other constructive criticism is also welcomed :)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

Hermione Granger couldn't believe it. She was on a boat, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. After the war, she always felt trapped, everywhere she went. She felt trapped in her flat, she felt trapped in her relationship with Ron, she felt trapped around her friends, she felt trapped everywhere she went. One day, when she was again looking to get away and kept aparating from one place to the other she found herself on a pier facing the Atlantic Ocean. A cruise ship was announcing its departure across the sea to Canada, and being on a desperate need for something new, she got a last-minute ticket and got on the boat.

It was amazing. The fresh salty air, the rocking motion of the waves, the independence and tranquility of it all. She loved being surrounded by muggles who couldn't care less about who she was or why she was there alone. She was just happy to mind her own business and breathe.

Having bought a last-minute ticket, she had a small cabin with no windows, so she only ever went to get some sleep. She would wake up in the morning, get a coffee, go on the upper deck and watch the sunrise. After an hour or so people would start showing up and it would get a little louder. That's when she would go to the lower decks and get some breakfast, it was much quieter at this time. Sometimes, someone would approach her and start talking, but would lose interest pretty fast as she wouldn't hold on to the conversation or kept mostly to herself. She was fine with that.

Hermione would spend her days either at the gym, burning steam off, or doing laps in the indoor pool. She had also found a quiet corner on a balcony that offered some shade. It was the perfect place to read a book, she got into the lounge chair she preferred and reached for her extendable bag she carried everywhere. She found that these days, she liked reading fiction novels, as it kept her mind off of things. She thought this was the perfect getaway.

That's because she hadn't seen the person, 2 decks higher with a head of bright blond hair looking at her behind a book of his own. Not that he was reading the book, no. He was way too curious, looking down at the girl he had nightmares about. Not that she was the reason of the nightmare, but it was the situation she was in when she had been captured by the snatchers and her crazy aunt was carving her arm after she had cursed numerous crucios. He had nightmares about it every night. He was glad his aunt was killed. Although he thought she deserved way worse than that.

Every day since he got on this boat, Malfoy tried to figure out what she was doing there. This was HIS trip. HIS getting away! He panicked when he first saw her, thinking she came with her two stupid friends. He had first spotted her on the first day, on the upper decks, looking at the sunrise. He panicked and hid. Searching the deck for Potter and Weasley. He couldn't help but to look at her in her light floral sundress, she looked petite, but not too short, she was bent over the railing facing the water, her nice round booty sticking out, her hair kept down over her shoulders in brown waves. Wait, what? Nice booty sticking out? Where did that come from? He tried to leave, ended up searching the perimeter for any signs of Potter or Weasley, and ended back to his secluded spot to check on Granger who was downing the rest of her coffee.

Malfoy couldn't help but to follow her, it was starting to get easy, as there started to be a lot more people on the upper deck. But she kept making her way down, lower and lower in the boat, to this restaurant who had barely anyone. He sat far away from her and facing her back. He didn't want to risk getting seen. He also had a good view of the entrance of the restaurant, he still wasn't sure if the two imbeciles were going to show up. He saw a man approach her table, and he tried to listen in, he could only

hear the man talking, as he was loud. He couldn't hear anything she was saying but the man left very quickly. He was definitely curious as to why Hermione Granger was on this ship.

When he caught sight of her turning the corner at the end of the hall he got up to leave as well. He didn't want to follow her too close as she might sense his presence.

Malfoy thought to himself - this is it. She's meeting up with whoever she came on this trip with. At last she seemed to have come to her destination. A common balcony looking out on the water. He was feeling rather creepy, being at the end of the hallway, with only his head around the corner. He saw her sit in a corner and pull out a book out of her bag. He could've sworn he saw her entire arm go into that bag. He stayed there for about an hour. He was cramping up, from being in an awkward position, spying on her. He decided to go back to his cabin.

Malfoy's cabin, was really a suite, a honeymoon suite to be exact. He was supposed to be there with his fiancée, but he had broken it off before the wedding. It was an arranged marriage, and now that he was head of the family, with his father in prison, he called it off, having no one telling him to do otherwise. Of course his mother was mad as could be, but it wasn't her decision. Draco Malfoy would have canceled the honeymoon, but he thought it would be good for him, and maybe his mother, to take some time apart.

Malfoy was back in his cabin. He sat on the edge of the bed, his elbows resting on his knees and head in between his hands. What was Granger doing here? On this cruise ship going across the Atlantic Ocean? It wasn't like there was any sightseeing. It was just water, and water, and more water. Sometimes there'd be a lone iceberg, whose drifted off from the glaciers of Antarctica.

After a couple of minutes, he stood up. What did it matter if Granger was on the same boat. He haven't seen any of her friends, so far it wasn't too bad. He could manage with that. He went out on his balcony to breathe some fresh air. He took a deep breath, held it, then caught it out. Right there! Two levels down on his right was Hermione Granger. Reading her book, oblivious to him standing right there looking at her. He backed out into his suit. Grabbed a hat, a rather big book and went back on the balcony. He sat on the lounge chair, opened the book and looked at her over the top edge, he had no idea what the book was about, but that didn't matter, he was way too busy looking at the curly haired brunette on her lounge chair reading her book.

The following days he would wake up early, to watch her looking at the sunrise. He thought she was beautiful, wait, that IT was beautiful. What was going on with him? He couldn't help but notice that she had changed since Hogwarts, since the war. She looked beautiful. He caught himself wondering if her wavy brown hair were as soft as it looked? He groaned. What was he doing thinking things like that. He was supposed to hate the girl. She was a mudblood, wasn't she not? Did he really think that now that the war was over? Did he really believe she was less because she was born from a muggle family? When he had found out that the Dark Lord himself was a half-blood, he started doubting all of those things he was brought up to believe. No, he decided. "She's a witch" he's decided. "And that's that."

He watched her again the next day, just as he had done the day prior, with a slight change that she had done laps at the pool. He couldn't stop watching the flow of water around her body as she was doing the crawl from one end to the other. He was mesmerized.

That evening, he was watching her from his balcony again, and the sun was setting over the horizon. He saw her leave her chair and head back inside. That's when he decided. He was going to talk to her the next day. What's the worst that could happen?


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks so much to everyone who is following this story, who has fav'd it or as left me a review. I feel a little overwhelmed by all of it but incredibly excited! Here is chapter 2, I hope you like it!**

Hermione woke up that morning feeling happy. Her first couple of days on this ship made her feel calm. She still couldn't sleep very well as she kept waking up in cold sweats, dreaming about harry, who she had thought dead, about Ron who had left them, about Dobby, and Sirius, and Fred, and Remus, and Tonks, and all of those who had died. She often dreamed of all those terrible things while hearing the cackling sound of Bellatrix Lestrange. After showering, she went and grabbed a coffee and started making her way towards the top deck.

She was sipping on her coffee watching the first few rays of sunshine rising from the horizon as she felt someone lean on the railing beside her. She was annoyed. Couldn't that person go lean further away? She didn't feel like talking, she didn't want to talk. This was her favorite moment of the day and no one was going to ruin it. She took a sip of her coffee and stood to make her way to the opposite side of the deck.

"Granger."

She turned around. She would've known that voice anywhere. Although, she had never heard it being this soft, being this gentle. She was looking at him with round eyes. She wished she had brought her wand but being surrounded by muggles, she didn't think she would need it. She started looking around for exit routes, all the while wondering if she was too far away from England to apparate back. Antarctica, Greenland, and Canada were out of the question as it required an international apparating permit.

"Malfoy." She choked out. "What…? How…?" She was lost for words.

"I'm on my honeymoon." She looked around for the newest Mrs. Malfoy.

"I'm here alone Granger." He took another sip of his coffee and was staring at the sunrise again.

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "As am I. And I would like it to stay that way." She started walking towards the other end of the boat again. Malfoy was following.

"What do you want?" She huffed. "I hate you, you hate me. Leave me be and I'll let you be.

He couldn't stop looking at her. She looked beautiful in her white sundress. He had noticed, now that he was closer, that she had bags under her eyes. Trouble sleeping too he presumed.

"Malfoy?" Shit. He was staring. He leaned back unto the railing. "I'm bored." Which was a lie. He was definitely not bored, he was straight up fascinated. "Can we just hang?" He asked. "I mean, we don't have to talk, but it would be nice to not be alone."

He was crossing his fingers behind his back and screaming in his head "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE"

She looked at him skeptically. "You can do whatever you want. Just don't speak to me." She finished her coffee, threw it in the nearest bin and started making her way down to the gym. She definitely needed it after this.

She got on the treadmill and started running. Sprint. Jog. Sprint. Jog.

Malfoy was ready for any opportunity. He had brought his workout clothes in his bag, changed, and started going through his muscular workout routine. This body did not come naturally, he had to work hard to stay lean but still have muscle definition. He wasn't a seeker for nothing.

He was currently working on his abs when Hermione got off from the treadmill. She was annoyed. She couldn't focus on her run when all she could see in the surrounding mirrors was Draco Malfoy, of all people, working out, with his clothes sticking to his perfect body constantly looking at her. What was up with him? She cleaned off her machine and went to take a shower into the ladies dressing room.

Malfoy finished his abs routine and went to take a shower himself. He definitely needed a cold one. He couldn't help having a semi-hard on while looking at her run. She had her hair in a ponytail, sticking down her back. With a workout tank and tight yoga pants. He tried looking away but found it very difficult to focus on his workout.

After his quick shower, he went out to wait for her. He didn't want her to leave him behind. He was determined to stay with her, no matter her conditions. He just couldn't stay away.

She came out of the dressing room and stared at him. His hair was still wet, and was going everywhere, his T-shirt stuck to his body, and she could see the definition in his arms. She knew he was handsome, but she definitely wasn't expecting this.

"Like what you see?" He asked.

"Humph.." she turned around and started making her way to the lower decks. Malfoy knew where she was going at this point but just kept to following close behind. She arrived at her preferred lounge chair and sat down. Pulled out her bag and took out her book. She then reached in and grabbed a sandwich and a thermos that contained tea. She looked at Malfoy, who had brought a lounge chair next to hers, and handed over half her sandwich. He took it and bit into it. "Thanks." She grabbed the cup she had brought and filled it up with tea and gave that to him as well. He raised an eyebrow at her wondering if she had a second one but then lifted up the thermos to her lips and took a sip, answering his question.

They sat like that for a while. Hermione noticed that he seemed to be reading a muggle book about traveling to Canada. She couldn't help it. "Malfoy? WHAT are you reading?! Muggle Canada? Really?"

Malfoy just looked at her over his book. "Granger, really?" He chuckled. "Aren't you a witch? Of course, it's not a muggle traveling book. Couldn't bring a book on wards and enchantments out in a muggle ship now could I?" He looked at the cover of his book. "I just transfigured the cover for it to match a book that was in my suite." Hermione had her mouth open "oh… that makes sense." She went back to her book.

A couple of minutes later, she looked back up. "Wards and enchantments? Why are you reading on wards and enchantments?" Malfoy put the book down, wondering how much he should tell her, and decided on the truth. "I'm now head of the family. The manor is mine. The wards are all fucked from having the dark lord living there. I'm trying to fix and modify them." Hermione shivered. "I'm sorry" he blurted out. "I shouldn't have brought up the manor. I'm sorry i didn't do anything when…" he went quiet. "I have nightmares about that day" Hermione looked down at her forearm, where the word mudblood was scared into her skin. "I'm sorry" he whispered again, as he was looking down at his own forearm where the dark mark was faded but still visible.

They had kept quiet for the remainder of the day. They had a quiet afternoon, and a quiet supper. They watched the sunset go down and then made their way to their own separate cabins. "Night." Malfoy whispered as he headed down a separate corridor.

It was now 2 am and the boat was quiet, all you could hear was the sound of the water hitting the boat and the engines humming in the background. Hermione was lying awake in her bed. She couldn't fall asleep. She kept thinking about the blond man who had followed her all day. It was not the same Malfoy she knew from Hogwarts. This Malfoy had changed. He had spent the day with her, by choice! He had not insulted her and had even apologized. It was a strange day.

She was tossing and turning in her bed trying to fall asleep but then sat up straight in her bed. She was suddenly feeling like she was surrounded by a strong magic field that had her suffocating for air. She could feel her magic pulsating throughout her body. She grabbed her wand but didn't know what to do. She thought, "Malfoy." She pulled on her clothes and got out of her cabin, leaning up against the wall looking for air, feeling dizzy. She had to find Malfoy, but she had no idea where to find him. She started to walk towards where she had seen him last. She haven't made it to that corridor yet that Malfoy was standing right in front of her with his hand against the wall taking deep long breaths. "Granger." He said. "What's happening?"

She was staring at him. Feeling better all of a sudden, but still not great. Next thing she knew, she was walking towards him. Standing right in front of him. She didn't know why, but the next thing she knew she had his face in between her hands and her lips on his. She was finally able to breathe.

"Granger?" She pulled away. "Not that I'm complaining. But what the fuck is going on?"

She was feeling dizzy. When she had pulled away she could feel her lungs contracting again. She took a step back, but Malfoy took a step towards her. "Granger, I feel better when you're closer." He wasn't wrong. As soon as he stepped closer her breathing was easier. She looked at him, frozen. What was she going to do? She started to feel panic taking a hold of her.

Malfoy put his hands on her shoulders. "Granger, relax." She didn't seem to hear him. "Granger?" She started to cry. He didn't know what to do, he pulled her in and held on to her. He slowly started to lead her back to his suite. Apparently whatever was going on they needed to be close to one another to be able to breathe. Might as well go and get some rest and sleep on it if they were going to try to figure this out.

"Always trapped" Hermione whispered to herself.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's chapter 3! I hope you like it! Let me know what you think in the reviews :) Love xx**

Hermione woke up feeling rested, she had not slept this good in a while. She couldn't remember the last time she didn't have nightmares. She kept her eyes close hoping she could fall back asleep, that is until she felt a presence beside her. Her eyes shot open, she tried reaching for her wand on the bedside table… only there wasn't a table there. She started to panic noticing this wasn't her cabin at all. She turned around to see who the person was and saw the back of a head full of white blond hair.

"MALFOY!" She screamed, as she started to remember the last nights events.

"Ugh?" He turned around so that he was now facing her. "Oh. Right." He got up. "You were unresponsive last night and my lungs are not functioning when we're apart, and I was tired. I brought you back here and laid you down on the bed. You fell asleep right away."

She looked down to see she was still wearing the clothes she had put on when leaving her cabin. "I have to use the washroom." She said. She spotted her wand on the dresser, grabbed it, and started making her way to the washroom. The more she was approaching the door, the harder it was for her to breathe. Malfoy got up from bed and ran towards her. He was only wearing his boxer briefs. Hermione was staring. He stopped in front of her, "I couldn't breathe." She hadn't noticed she could breathe normally now, as she had stopped breathing for entirely different reasons.

"Tell you what. You get inside, and I'll stand on this side of the door. We should be fine."

"What is going on?" Hermione whispered more to herself. "What about my privacy?!" She then exclaimed.

"Seriously." He said, exasperated. "You ever heard of a Silencio before?" He rolled his eyes at the witch.

Draco Malfoy sat down behind the door as he heard her cast the spell. He held his head in between his hands. What was going on? What was that magic he sensed the night before? Why couldn't he breathe without Hermione? Was it going to go away on its own? How could they get rid of it?

As much as he was pondering all these questions in is head a little part of him was happy that it would permit him to be closer to her without questions.

The door swung open, and he fell backwards onto his back. "I'm done." Draco was looking up at Hermione from the floor. She had a towel wrapped around her and her hair was dripping wet over her shoulders. "Got a change of clothes I could use until i can get my own?" She asked. "Sure." He stood up and grabbed her some Jogging pants and a white t-shirt. "Mind if I take a shower before we head out?" She went back into the washroom, changed, and came back out. "Sure." And she sat down behind the door.

Hermione wished she had her beaded bag with her. She wanted desperately to start a list of everything that was going on. She started the list in her head anyways.

Can't breathe when apart from Malfoy. Start noticing after 1m. Limit distance: unknown.

Strong magic field woke her up at around 1 am.

Location: Imprecise. Atlantic Ocean.

Can I only breathe only around Malfoy, or any witches or wizards?

Her thoughts were interrupted as Malfoy came back out.

"Alright. So here is what I'm thinking. We can't really solve this while we're on this boat. So let's get you changed. We can grab a coffee, and we'll go watch the sunrise." Hermione didn't object. Coffee was bound to help her get her ideas and thoughts in order.

When they got to her cabin, Malfoy was shocked to see how her cabin was much smaller than his and so very simple. He didn't say anything. She changed clothes, grabbed her beaded bag and headed out to get a coffee. They started making their way up to the upper deck. Her mind was racing with ideas, possibilities, solutions, reasonings, she wasn't noticing Malfoy was talking to her.

"...is it saying? Granger? Hear that? Never heard it before? Weird muggle music?..." He was going on and on. That's when she heard a faint sound, or maybe it was music? She couldn't tell, it was barely audible. As they were approaching the deck, the voices/music was growing louder and louder.

"... ever heard that before? Was there a special event on the boat today?..." Malfoy was still rambling on. He took a look around the deck "I don't think the muggles can hear it. The few ones here are not paying any attention to it."

"Quiet." She said. "I think I've heard something similar to this before." Hermione leaned over the railing and was looking down at the water. "Merpeople." Draco shot her a look. "What?"

"I've heard this sound when Harry had his egg for the second task during the triwizard tournament. It was the voices of Merpeople, although we could only hear it when our head was submerged in water…" she started rumbling through her beaded bag, her arm disappearing inside.

"What the hell?" Malfoy was looking at her. "Ever heard of an expandable charm?" Making fun of him for his previous behavior that morning. She pulled out a book.

"So what? You have your library in there?"

"Yes." She simply answered. "Figures." He mumbled.

She opened the booked and laid it on the railing, her finger going down though the table of contents. "Page 201." She mumbled to herself. Malfoy peaked over. "Mermish?" He asked. "Well aren't you curious to know why we can hear it when we are above water?" She bent back over her book.

"I'm really more curious to know exactly what its saying." He bent back over the railing to listen. "Something about the sea? I keep hearing the word protection? Attraction?"

Hermione took out a pen and paper and gave it to Malfoy. "Here. Write it down." He eagerly started writing down anything he could hear. Hermione put her book down for the time being and tried to help him listen in.

As time went by, it was getting difficult to make out the voices. Passengers of the ship were now everywhere on the upper deck, taking advantage of the sun that was now pretty high in the sky.

"Alright. I can't hear anything anymore." Hermione stated, putting her beaded bag on her shoulder.

"Let's go back to my cabin and sort through what we've got. I don't know if this got anything to do with our breathing situation but it sure is curious."

She nodded and started walking towards the stairs. Malfoy ran up to her and grabbed her hand. "Can't have you running off and let me die of suffocation!" She pulled her hand out of his. "Sorry, i forgot." She grabbed his elbow. "Well come on then!"

Malfoy smiled to himself, this was weird, but this trip was turning out to be quite the adventure!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 is now here! I'm trying to update this story as soon as I can. Reviews always motivates me to write faster, so review ahead! :D Let me know what you think of the story and what you think is coming! Love xx**

The light in Malfoy's cabin was dining, the sun was setting. Hermione got up to turn on the lights and looked down at the floor. There were books and paper everywhere. They had been looking for answers all day. Hermione had never seen Malfoy this way. His hair was messy, he was wearing jogging pants and a T-shirt, and he was wearing glasses. She had never seen him wearing glasses, or look so focused. It was odd, but she was also very curious, all she wanted to do was to put her hands throughout his hair and kiss his face. _What is wrong with me?_ She thought to herself.

He was currently reciting for the millionth time what he had heard from the voices coming from the sea.

 _Only when hate_

 _Only when love_

 _Only when compatible_

 _When minds make one_

 _When bodies make one_

 _When souls make one_

 _Protection for one another_

 _Attraction for each other_

 _Can't live on land_

 _Without one another_

 _Bonded for life_

 _Destined for the sea_

He threw the paper on the floor and headed out to the balcony. Hermione followed him out.

When they entered the cabin earlier that day, they could still hear the voices coming from the sea. They had sat outside on the balcony and made sure that all they had heard was right. The voices stopped at noon, but they were pretty sure that the script they had, was correct. They had come back to the cabin and started researching all possibilities. Malfoy was more concerned on the meaning of the voices, as for Hermione, she was more concerned on why they heard it at all.

Hermione had taken out all her books that she thought would concern what they were experimenting. She wished she could go to Hogwarts library or even Flourish & Blotts, there were many other books, like 'The Atlantic Ocean and its magical properties' she wished she had taken the time to buy, or at least read. She had taken out about 20 books out from her beaded bag, and they were all against the far wall. She had only been able to go through 5 of them that afternoon, but was not losing hope. She couldn't give up now.

Hermione sat on one of the lounge chairs and closed her eyes. "I've always liked the smell of the sea" she said while taking in deep breaths. "It calms me down." She still had her eyes closed. "I guess it's why i decided to get on the ship."

Malfoy was looking out towards the sea. "I've always liked it too" he replied simply. He was looking at her while she had her eyes closed. He couldn't stop glancing at her all day, his mind always went back to when she only had a towel around her body. Her skin seemed to glow under the last rays of light from the sunset, and her hair cascaded down the side of the chair in beautiful brown waves. He reached down to touch, it was as soft as what he thought it would be. Hermione opened her eyes and Malfoy stepped back as quickly as he could. He couldn't believe he had just touched her hair… it was like if he was in a trance. He wasn't sure if she noticed he was touching her hair, if she did, she hadn't said a word.

After a little while, Hermione stared up at Malfoy, "How many more day till we reach land? Where are we stopping anyway? This was very last-minute and i didn't take the time to check how long or where this cruise was going. Just as long as I was leaving." She turned around and started re-arranging books on the wall. She hadn't meant to say that last part, and she didn't want to look at him after she had admitted that. "I think there are 4 days left until we reach St.-John's, Newfoundland. It looks like Ireland, but in Canada." She looked up at him with a questioning look. "Hey?! Don't look at me like that! I had to look up where I was going wasn't I?" She chuckled. Malfoy turned around re-arranging books of his own while he had a smile on his face. He hadn't heard Hermione chuckled, giggle, or laugh since he had first seen her on the upper deck.

"I think my brain is going to explode if I try to do more research here. Do you want to go have a drink?" Malfoy was already grabbing his room key. "Is that a date?" Hermione blushed. "Only if you want it to be." Malfoy smirked. "But I really want a drink and I can't go without you, i might die of suffocation." She blushed again. How could she have forgotten the whole oxygen thing! She had researched it all day, and here she was, talking about dates, how embarrassing. "Alright." She answered. "But let's go get my stuff. I have a feeling I'll be living here for the rest of the cruise."

 **000**

Hermione was sipping on her 3rd martini. "You know, I've always wanted to try a martini. It was my mom's favorite drink." Malfoy curiously looked at her, "Was?"

"Or is. I don't know. My parents are in Australia, with no idea who I am." Malfoy didn't elaborate on the subject.

"I'm sorry for your parents, Granger." Hermione was looking at her hand, there was another hand on top of hers, Malfoy's hand to be exact. Malfoy's seemed to realize what he was doing and took his hand back.

"Let me go get us another round of drinks." He stood up and left for the bar.

Hermione gulped down her Martini and was rubbing her hands on her pants. Why were they so sweaty? She looked around to watch Malfoy order drinks. She was having drinks with Malfoy, but was this Malfoy really? She thought about Harry, what would he say? Well he couldn't really say anything since he was probably doing Auror training or shagging Ginny, or Merlin knows what other heroic thing he was clinging too, now. And Ron? Well she didn't want to think about him. No, she was here, with Malfoy, and it was going perfectly fine. She might be in a bit of a situation, but that also kept her mind off of things.

"Mind if I join you?" She took her eyes off of Malfoy before looking at who had spoken to her. _Ugh, it was that guy from the restaurant a couple of days ago. "_ I've noticed you've got some company, seems a bit pale if you ask me." Hermione was annoyed.

"Excuse me? Are you insulting my friend?"

"Your friend? You obviously just met him. He wasn't with you on the first couple of days of the cruise."

"Not that i need to give you any sort of explanation, but we've known each other from before and bumped into each other two nights ago." Hermione was starting to see red. Who the hell did he think he was?

"Well i could be of better company." He leaned forward, he smelled strongly of alcohol.

Hermione tried to move back. She wished she still had a martini, so she could throw it in his face. Where was Malfoy already?!

"I could do things to you that… What did you do that for?!" Hermione had just slapped him across the face.

Next thing Hermione knew Malfoy was in front of her and had grabbed the man by his shirt and was dragging him out of there while beating him at the same time. Hermione was quickly following behind. "NO!" She screamed. He seemed to be dragging him towards the railing on the edge of the ship.

"Granger, he deserves to die." His look was frightening.

"Malfoy!" He didn't seem to notice her.

"Draco! Look at me!" He looked at her, she called him by his first name.

The look he was giving her was not the same look he was giving the man. This look was full of lust.

"Draco, you can't kill him. Let him go." The man was semi-conscious. "Let him go." She said again.

She moved towards him and put her hand on his cheek. "Please, Draco. Let him go, and let's go back to your cabin please."

Draco dropped the man and grabbed Hermione by the waist. "Hermione." He whispered. He was shaking. "I couldn't control myself." He dropped his forehead on hers. "All i want to do is hurt that man, to get him as far away from you as possible, to protect you. I saw him lean towards you and I saw red. I came over as quickly as I could." She pulled him towards her in a hug. "It's OK now. I'm fine. Let's go back to your cabin."

Hermione was holding his hand on the way back to his cabin. She was afraid he might want to turn around and go throw him overboard after all.

"You think this has anything to do with the 'Protection for one another' of the voices?" Malfoy whispered out.

"I don't know" she wondered. "Let's look more into it tomorrow."

They were laying in bed.

"This has got to be the weirdest situation I've ever been in."

"You mean, being on a cruise ship, that you can't breathe without me, that you almost threw a man overboard for my honor, and that you are about to sleep in the same bed as me? Yeah. I have to admit it is weird." Hermione was giggling a little.

"Can't say I'm complaining." Malfoy rolled over.

 _Ugh. This was definitely weird._


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the wait everyone, it took me a while to write this chapter. I kept erasing and rewriting. Hope you like it! Don't forget to let me know what you think in the reviews!**

Hermione woke up the next morning with the sun hitting her directly over her face. She wanted to grab the sheets and pull them over her head, but her hand was already busy holding on to Malfoy's waist. She tried to take her arm back, but Malfoy was holding on to her arm. "Malfoy..." She whispered.

Malfoy woke up and noticed that Hermione was holding on to him. Well, this was interesting. Before thinking anything about it he turned towards her and pulled her closer to him. Her face was now so close, he could feel her hair tickling his face. Her skin was so soft, he couldn't help but to run his fingers up and down her arms, her back and up to her neck.

"Malfoy? What are you doing?" She wanted him to let go of her, and here he was pulling her closer. She didn't know what to do. One part of her told her to get away from him, and the other one to let go and enjoy the closeness. He was warm, and cozy, and comfortable, and calm, and he smelled good, and his body was just so hard and sexy, and… what?!

She tried pushing him away, but Malfoy who was still half sleeping, was just holding on to her. "Just five more minutes" he said. "Malfoy, please let me go." If she stayed in his arm, she didn't know where her thoughts would bring her. He seemed to finally notice what he was doing, and let go of her. "Sorry Granger." He rolled over to his back, staring up to the ceiling.

What had gotten into him? He remembered waking up aroused from a dream… a very erotic dream, where Hermione was hopping up and down on top of him. He needed a cold shower, ASAP! But how could he get to the shower, get her to sit on the other side of the door, and all that without her seeing the massive hard on he had. That's if she had not already felt it from moments ago.

Hermione started giggling. Malfoy looked over to her, worried she was laughing to exactly what he was thinking about. "You alright there Granger?"

"You think this has anything to do with the 'Attraction for each other' part?" She was still giggling. "I mean, look at us." He threw his pillow at her and started laughing himself. "Oh will you just sit on the other side of the bathroom door, so I can take a cold shower Granger?"

She blushed and got up, grabbed one of the books and sat down beside the door.

"You know," he was pointing to her outfit. "That's not helping me at all!" He winked at her still laughing from the situation and walked to the bathroom holding a pillow in front of his pants.

Hermione looked down to what she was wearing. She had gone to bed the night before with her clothes on. She must have gotten hot and removed some of her clothing. She had her white spaghetti strap undershirt top which had ridden so low her soft pink bra was clearly showing up top, and she must've taken her pants off cause she was wearing her green lace boy shorts. How embarrassing. She tried to reach over to the bed and pulled over the sheets, she wrapped it over her shoulders.

When Malfoy came out of the shower, Hermione was already deep in research, now laying on her stomach elbows propped up and the sheets over her legs.

Hermione looked up at him. "Good, your done. My turn." She got up pulling the sheet up while doing so. Grabbed some clothes and got in the bathroom. Malfoy was staring with his mouth slightly open. He couldn't decide if he had the worst or the best of luck.

 **000**

The sun was now setting, and they were still nowhere near finding anything on voices coming from the sea or on their oxygen problem.

Hermione put her book down exasperating. "That's it! I need a drink!" Malfoy couldn't have been happier with her declaration, as he really wanted one too. "Yup! Let's go!" Malfoy grabbed his jacket, "Do you want to go to the outside bar on the other side of the ship? I don't want to run into yesterday's guy again. I still kind of want to throw him overboard." Hermione laughed. "Oh seriously. Sounds like a great idea, i could use the fresh air." They grabbed their jackets and on they went.

 **000**

They were already on their 4th drinks. Malfoy had already tipped the staff heavily, mentioning to keep the drinks coming. He didn't want to leave Hermione alone again.

Hermione was drinking martinis after martinis, she was having a great time. Draco was great company, they were talking about everything, both avoiding talking about their current issue.

"You mean to say, that in second year, you brewed a polyjuice potion, a NEWT level potion. Then what? Potter and Weasley turned into Crab and Goyle? Then snucked into Slytherin's common room to question me?" Malfoy was laughing so hard he was holding onto the table. "Wait?! Was that when Goyle was wearing glasses?! I knew there was something wrong there!"

Hermione was smirking at him. "OK. Your turn to tell me a story!"

"But wait! Why didn't you turn into someone? Chickened out?"

Hermione started laughing and blushing at the same time. "I meant to turn into Millicent Bulstrode… i was sure i had a piece of her hair."

"What happened? Turned into Dumbledore or something?" He was looking at her with wide eyes.

"Worse. It was cat hair."

Malfoy was laughing so hard he almost fell over his chair.

"Alright, now your turn Malfoy!"

"Alright, alright. Let me think…"

The waitress came over with another drink. "Looks like a lot of fun over here. I could hear you laughing from across the bar." She had her hand on Draco's back. "You have a beautiful laugh by the way." She moved her hand over to her shoulder, flipped her long blond straight hair and looked at him directly in the eyes.

Draco looked over at Hermione "she really has the best stories."

"I'm sure you have exciting stories yourself." Still looking straight at him.

Draco felt Hermione's hand take his. "OUR stories are really the best." He looked over at her and saw her shooting daggers with her eyes to the waitress.

She didn't seem to notice has she had all of her attention on Draco. She still had her hand on his shoulder. "Oh. Your shoulders are so tense. Let me massage them." She stood behind him and started massaging his shoulders.

Hermione stood up looking furious. "What do you think you are doing?" She was fuming.

"Can't you see his shoulders are tense, I'm caring for him."

She let go of Malfoy at once, looked down at her feet and looked like she was hurting. "Excuse me, my feet are cramping up." She looked up hopefully at Malfoy. "Maybe you could massage my feet?"

Hermione's face was red. "I don't think so! I can care for him myself thank you. I think you should go."

"But…" Hermione was now right against Draco with her hand against his chest.

"Leave." She said. She was terrifyingly calm. Malfoy saw the tip of her wand poking out of her jacket sleeve. He looked over to the waitress who was limping, then taking her shoes off. Malfoy was putting two and two together. "You've put a shrinking charm on her shoes?" Sounding impressed. He was going to turn around and look at her, but he felt her two hands grab his face and then felt her lips on his.

He could feel her hands lowering to his shirt where she was grabbing on to him like there was no tomorrow. She was kissing him and Malfoy was definitively answering back to her kisses. He very willingly permitted entrance to her tongue who was now clashing with his. Her hands were now in his hair, tugging and pulling as she was trying to get closer.

"Get a room." They heard from someone from a nearby table.

"Let's get out of here." Malfoy was dragging her out of there. Holding her by the waist. It took them a while to get back to Malfoy's cabin, everytime Hermione would see a dark corner she would pull him in to snog him some more.

When they finally reached his cabin Hermione pushed Malfoy unto the bed and removed her shirt and pants leaving her in her bra and panties. She jumped on Malfoy, straddling him. She was kissing him deeply all the while grinding on him. She could definitely feel his erection through his pants. Malfoy moaned out loudly, he couldn't believe what was happening. He was letting her take the lead, not wanting to scare her away. Her hand was now rubbing him through his pants. He was so hard, the strain against his pants was definitely uncomfortable. She seemed to be reading his mind when she unbuttoned him, pulling him free. She had her hands around him. Malfoy was trying to hold it together. He didn't want to come right there and then.

He looked at her, she was looking down at her hand around him, slowly going up and down. She looked up at him, and what Malfoy saw was a look full of lust, her eyes were dilated. He grabbed her waist and put her under him. He was holding onto her hands.

"Hermione?" He questioned. "I think we should stop." She seemed horrified, then pulled away feeling embarrassed. Malfoy pulled a sheet atop him then pulled Hermione closer.

"Hermione, you have no idea how much i want this, but I think this is from the voices of the merpeople. I don't want you to do anything you're going to regret."

Hermione was sitting on his lap. She couldn't help but to notice that he looked sad. "Draco, I'm attracted to you. I can't be sure if it's a result from the voices, but…" she put her arms around him, "I really don't care." She kissed him on the cheek and brought him into a hug.

"Want to go to bed?" She asked him. He nodded and pulled the sheets up.

Malfoy laid on his back, trying to keep his distances. Hermione seemed to think differently as she cuddled into him. He fell asleep with a smile on his face for the time in years that night.


End file.
